This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Spreader equipment used as farm implements broadcast dry bulk media such as seed, fertilizer, nutrients, and such, in a controlled pattern. Settings on the spreader establish a gate opening at the bottom of a hopper through which the media is gravity fed onto a throwing device. The throwing devices are commonly axially rotated for scattering the media radially outward from the gate opening. The size of the gate opening controls the volume of media dispensed. The gate opening in known spreaders is controlled by a manual lever, usually constructed to include an extended handle.
There are several variants of spreader devices and quite a range of capacities of spreader equipment in the market place, offered by numerous vendors. Most spreader devices require the use of a tractor mount and a power take-off (PTO) to axially rotate the throwing device, while other spreader devices are pull-behind versions. Most spreaders require the tractor operator to stop and get off the tractor in order to open, close or adjust the setting of the gate of the spreader. The gate may be closed for example at the end of each field row of delivery prior to turning the tractor for dispersal in a subsequent row. Manual control of the gate is problematic, however, even if the operator is able to reach the extended gate opening handle of the spreader from the tractor seated position, because the operator is forced to assume an unsafe position relative to driving and maintaining control of the tractor.
In order to maintain safe control of the tractor, many operators opt to save time and avoid stopping to open and shut the gate at the ends of field rows. Each growing season, farmers lose large amounts of bulk media due to being spread in unwanted places. If a farmer or operator takes the time to deliberately and constantly stop the tractor when activating the gate, unproductive time is incurred. Known actuator control mechanisms are mostly original equipment options built in place and are not releasably connected to the spreader device. Known actuator controls that are releasably connected from spreader devices are not connectable or adaptable to other variations of spreader equipment.